Preparing a Ride to Boston

With 39 days until Boston, which is practically right around the corner, it's time to start figuring out how I'm getting to and from the race. I live relatively close by, but I don't want to drive myself, and I don't really want Nick to have to drop me off either. He would, but he'll be watching the kids, we don't know that specific area (that we'd be driving to) super well, and I know I'll be nervous. That combo will probably just lead to more stress for everyone involved. I'd rather take a team bus, where I can drive to a close by location and have them take care of the rest. It's much more care free (for me). Of course, that means I have to be a club member. In theory, picking a club/team should be easy. There's a running club in Lowell (GLRR), which is closest to me. I don't know anyone in the club though, so I have no particular allegiance to the group, but they're convenient. (And I'm sure once I meet them I'll feel some comradely.)

But there were two other possibilities as well. There's the Gate City Striders, which isn't much further than Lowell. I not only have a running friend from college in that club, but I met a number of club members at Derry, and of course everyone was great. Then there's the Whirlaway team. One of my best friends from college runs for Whirlaway, which makes it the most appealing option (because I hardly ever get to see her anymore). Also, if I was serious about getting faster, these ladies would push me there. I'd probably be the 6th runner on the team. That means when we raced, say a half marathon, I would probably be the 6th member of the team to finish (5 other ladies on my team and in my age group would be ahead of me). In my mind, the biggest downside to that is my stress level. I'm sure it would make me faster, but I'm comfortable right now doing my own thing, and not worrying about where I finish on a team, or if I'm letting people down because I didn't run fast enough. I think if I didn't have some specific marathon goals right now, then I would find the Whirlaway team too good to pass up, which probably sounds odd.

Let me explain. Right now I'm very focused on the marathon distance. I see that changing after October, but my racing right now is centered around my marathon training. And the marathon is such a mental suck, that I'm concerned a serious team will play games with my mind. When I let go of the marathon stress, I think team running will become more appealing, fun, and interesting. And it would be so much fun to run with my college friend again!

So I promised my friend that I wouldn't join any team without talking to her first, but I had already joined the GLRR club. Here's the deal though, you can join a club, but not necessarily the team. To score for the team you have to be registered with that team under the USATF. I'm not registered with the GLRR team, just the club, but I have this funny feeling that might change...I just received an email from the club asking which of us are running Boston. They want to select who will be registered to score for the team, but they also need to keep track for the whole bus thing. Given that I'm not a member of any team (at this point), it's probably going to be difficult not to join (since I'm in the club) if they ask. I'd be okay with that though. I'd love to run with my college friend, but I feel a lot less stressed about the seriousness of the GLRR team (hopefully no one gets offended by that statement). And it might be fun to be on a team that doesn't stress me out. Of course, I haven't mentioned my times to anyone and no one knows me, so there's also a good chance that I'll slip through without notice.

Thinking about running with and being a part of a running group is exciting! I don't see myself being able to commit to very many group runs right now, but after Boston I could see myself running long runs with the group. They often run on the BayState course. Of course, if AM decides to run BayState and wants to do some on course runs, I could be easily convinced to stray from the group. ;)

And just for fun here are a couple of phone pics:

 My little kindergartner. She'll be testing for her yellow belt in Kenpo in a couple weeks, which is sort of new and interesting for us. 

Do NOT be fooled. This one is crazy. Lately, she's been running around screaming, "Rawwr, I'm a headless horse! I have no head!" Really, I couldn't make this up if I tried. The other thing she does is chase Kaylee around screaming, "WOOOOoooo, I'm the ghost of the forest!!!" Which, for whatever reason, really freaks Kaylee out...